Biogeosciences
www.biogeosciences.net
1726-4170
1726-4189
5
1
2008
10.5194/bg-5-215-2008
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/215/2008/
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/215/2008/bg-5-215-2008.html
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/215/2008/bg-5-215-2008.pdf
215
225
2008-02-20
Nutrient limitation of primary productivity in the Southeast Pacific (BIOSOPE cruise)
S. Bonnet
sbonnet@usc.edu
C. Guieu
F. Bruyant
O. Prášil
F. Van Wambeke
P. Raimbault
T. Moutin
C. Grob
M. Y. Gorbunov
J. P. Zehr
S. M. Masquelier
L. Garczarek
H. Claustre
Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, UMR 7093, CNRS and Université Pierre et Marie Curie, BP 08 06238 Villefranche sur mer Cedex, France
Dalhousie University–Department of Oceanography, 1355 Oxford Street Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada
Institute of Microbiology ASCR, Opatovický mlýn, 37981 Trebon and University of South Bohemia, Zámek, 37333 Nové Hrady, Czech Republic
Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille - Campus de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France
Rutgers University, Institute of marine and Costal Sciences, 71 Dudley road, New Brunswick, N. J. 08901-8521, USA
University of California Santa Cruz, Ocean Sciences Department, 1156 high street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Station Biologique de Roscoff, UMR 7144, CNRS and Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie, BP 74, 29682 Roscoff Cedex, France
Iron is an essential nutrient involved in a variety of biological processes
in the ocean, including photosynthesis, respiration and dinitrogen fixation.
Atmospheric deposition of aerosols is recognized as the main source of iron
for the surface ocean. In high nutrient, low chlorophyll areas, it is now
clearly established that iron limits phytoplankton productivity but its
biogeochemical role in low nutrient, low chlorophyll environments has been
poorly studied. We investigated this question in the unexplored southeast
Pacific, arguably the most oligotrophic area of the global ocean. Situated
far from any continental aerosol source, the atmospheric iron flux to this
province is amongst the lowest of the world ocean. Here we report that,
despite low dissolved iron concentrations (~0.1 nmol l<sup>−1</sup>) across
the whole gyre (3 stations located in the center and at the western and the
eastern edges), primary productivity are only limited by iron availability
at the border of the gyre, but not in the center. The seasonal stability of
the gyre has apparently allowed for the development of populations
acclimated to these extreme oligotrophic conditions. Moreover, despite clear
evidence of nitrogen limitation in the central gyre, we were unable to
measure dinitrogen fixation in our experiments, even after iron and/or
phosphate additions, and cyanobacterial nif H gene abundances were extremely low
compared to the North Pacific Gyre. The South Pacific gyre is therefore
unique with respect to the physiological status of its phytoplankton
populations.
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